Savoring Homeschool Moments with Music Education
How can music education improve your homeschool atmosphere? How can you work music education into your daily homeschool routine? Find out in this post.
Guest post by Kathryn Brunner, Founder of Musik at Home, LLC
When I first started homeschooling my daughters, I expected to discover new worlds as we read about history, unlock the mysteries of science with fun experiments, and imagine we’re the characters in the book we’re reading together.
What I didn’t expect was that amidst the academics and the necessary character building lessons, I’d find precious, perfect moments of love and laughter that make me want to freeze time so I can take them in and bottle them up.
And, what I’ve discovered over the past couple of years is that over and over again music plays a key role in those magical moments.
In order to spark more joy and create even more delightful moments in my homeschool, I’ve compiled some tried and true ways that mixing music with daily activities brings me and my children closer together and adds a little musical magic into our day.
I’d love to share them with you. Here are just a few!
Savoring Homeschool Moments with Music Education
Introducing Music into Your Homeschool Day (Even if you Don’t Think you’re Musical)
Make music in your home on a daily basis
Sing a song first thing in the morning, when you clean up your home, or when nap time is coming. It can be a “real” song or just words and a tune you make up on the spot!
Give your children time to explore simple musical instruments
Simple instruments are things you might have around the house already, like a rattle, rhythm sticks, jingle bells, scarves for creative movement, sand blocks, tambourines, etc. You’ll have fun playing these simple instruments, too, and teaching them how to tap, shake, or dance out a rhythm.
Play music throughout the day
You might play soft, upbeat music as you wake the children, switch to a song with a strong beat for a dance party when you all need a break, and keep classical music playing in the background during math class.
Getting Started with Music Education
The next step is to turn musical play into music education. Believe it or not, you have what you need to give your child resources to help them become skillful musicians, which is something you’ll enjoy as a family for years to come.
Kids don’t need to be told to love music. They’ll light up when you play their favorite song, and giggle when you have an impromptu dance party. All they need are the tools to turn their natural love and talent into something wonderful and it starts with early childhood music education.
Early childhood music education is a structured way to engage children with the power of music. It takes something they naturally love (Music) and helps them step into a lifetime of musical joy because it gives them foundational tools to understand it (Music) and intelligently interact with it.
Early childhood music education starts as easily as:
- Singing a call-and-response song like “Down By the Bay” or “Charlie Over the Ocean.” Have your child echo each phrase you sing. Add motions as you sing or use puppets or other props to go along with the lyrics. Talk about which parts of the song go up (higher) and which parts go down (lower).
- Playing Freeze Dance – they dance and move until the music stops, and then they freeze!
- Singing a familiar song like “Old McDonald” and use a different movement each time: milk the cow, stomp mud off boots, pitch hay, pick beans, etc. Keep a steady beat with your movement to match the beat of the music as you sing.
- Stopping a favorite song and having your child sing the next line.
Each of these interactive musical moments will build on the relationship you have with your child. Not only are they fun, but they connect you as you play, move, and learn together.
If you’re not sure about coming up with musical activities yourself or if your child is wanting more, I also created Musik at Home online classes just for you. Not only will I walk you through each step of early childhood music, you won’t have to leave your house! You’ll discover how to nurture and grow your child’s musical talent at each developmental stage with simple movements and delightful songs. As you learn together, side by side with your children, you’ll find more and more of those magical moments you want to remember forever. It’s amazing to watch your child connect with the music and the movement and begin to soar!
I love seeing homeschooling families succeed in music education! If you’d like a little help adding music to your homeschool, here’s a 30 day free trial membership to Musik at Home. All you need to do is head over to Musik at Home to sign up for 30 free days of musical memories with your child.
You’ll be able to easily fit these short music lessons into your homeschool day and you’ll quickly see the benefits of an early childhood music education that brings the family together and creates moments you’ll all remember.
Here’s to many precious, musical moments in your homeschool!
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